— By Bill Cornwell
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Saturday is Homecoming in Huntington for Marshall when it plays host to Gardner-Webb with a 3:30 p.m. start at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
The 125th edition of Marshall’s Homecoming game is also a Homecoming of sorts of a trio of Bulldogs.
Quarterback Cole Pennington, running back Randy Young and tight end Beau Blankenship formerly played for the Herd and will now oppose them.
“For those guys, it might have a little more meaning to them having been there and knowing some of their old teammates on the other side,” Gardner-Webb interim head coach Pete Bennett said. “For the most part, kids are just excited to go out and compete because it’s the next game.”
Bennett replaced Kris McCullough after the Bulldogs’ season-opening loss at Austin Peay. McCullough, who was in his first year at Gardner-Webb, was fired after the university conducted an internal investigation.
Pennington is the son of Marshall Athletic Hall of Famer Chad Pennington, and as the team’s starting quarterback, plays a prominent role for a squad that comes to Huntington with a 1-3 record.
Pennington left Marshall following the 2024 season, which was his second with the Herd.
He completed 64-of-112 passes in 2023 at Marshall, throwing for 695 yards, but failing to throw a touchdown while being intercepted six times. The next season, Pennington was 5-for-7 with one TD toss, but sought an expanded role, which he’s since found with the Bulldogs.
Last season, Pennington appeared in 10 games and hit on 126-of-208 passes for 1,601 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
Pennington has struggled some early into the 2026 campaign, completing 98-of-179 passes for 1,185 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions, but enters off his best performance of the season having completed 24-of-38 passes for 309 yards with a pair of TDs in a 44-20 win against North Carolina Central.
Young has no statistics this season while Blankenship has two receptions 18 yards.
Bennett has had to keep his team together after the turmoil caused by a sudden coaching change.
Gardner-Webb lost competitively under his guidance in its first two games, falling 17-13 at Wofford and then nearly pulling off a stunner against a quality FBS program, before a late Liberty touchdown enabled the Flames to edge the Bulldogs, 24-23.
The Bulldogs played their first home game a week ago and made the most of it, but are now returning to the road.
“We showed over the last three weeks that we are a football team that will play for a full 60 minutes,” Bennett said. “I think we’re fully capable of going toe-to-toe with FBS programs. Marshall has a roster full of talented players and they’re big on both sides of the ball. They also have a lot of team speed. Our guys know that they’re talented enough to play in these games and if they execute, we feel that we have a chance.
“We’re just trying to keep the entire team and staff focused and moving in the same direction. I’m just trying to stay ahead of all of the ‘big picture’ things.”